Editor’s note:  Dr. Terry F. Buss, a fellow at the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, explains why Donald Trump is able to enjoy a lead in public opinion polls despite his extreme, outrageous public policy positions in this third article of the series.

>> Part 1: What politicians, American people think about Trump

>> Part 2: Why Republican establishment, Democrats may support Trump

Donald Trump often announces the most extreme, outrageous public policy positions in his run for the U.S. presidency, yet enjoys a lead in public opinion polls over his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s policy positions are fluid: he reverses himself whenever he feels too much opposition. His policies are inconsistent. Often policies are based on slogans without substance. And most important, Trump is running as a Republican but his policies often contradict those of the Party, often resembling more the agenda of the Democratic Party.

How can Trump become president with his policy perspective?

The short answer: this election is not about policies and issues, but instead about leadership.

This election features the progressive policies of Hillary Clinton, the socialism of Bernie Sanders, and the eclectic positions of Trump, but Americans do not seem to care.

What Americans want first and foremost is strong leadership.

Trump’s policy stew

Consider these policy positions. On Muslims, Trump announced that as president, he would ban all Muslims from visiting the U.S. until Congress sorted out the terrorism issue. Then he softened this to allow Muslims who are American citizens to freely come and go. Next he expanded this to allow foreign diplomats and business people to visit. Finally, he limited visits only for Syrian refugees.

Trump wrote several books and gave interviews indicating his opposition to gun ownership: but Republicans favor gun ownership as one of their core policies. Recently Trump visited a convention of the National Rifle Association, the major lobby group for gun ownership, and proclaimed he was strongly for gun ownership and even owned guns himself.

Trump agrees with Clinton and Sanders, both Democrats, that Obama’s Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a bad free trade agreement, while Republicans support trade as a major policy.

Trump’s tactical skills

Trump is the grandmaster of extricating himself from the negative effects of his policy statements. Here’s how.

When he began running for president, Trump made numerous outrageous statements. He said he was against abortion, but then went on to say that women having abortions should be punished. He got away with this by claiming that all of his comments are not meant to be “policy proposals” but rather “policy suggestions.”

Trump then follows this with the idea that he is totally flexible. He has total faith in his superior negotiating skills, so people should not be alarmed. For example, he just announced that he would be happy to meet with Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea, for a “little chat” on nuclear war and that Trump would win.

When really pressed on issues, Trump falls back on his strategy—and that of every other politician—that his policy statements were taken out of context. Usually, this is followed by arguments that other politicians have said things that are much worse.

As a final fallback position Trump engages in personal attacks to deflect attention away from policies and issues. When Clinton proposed banning guns, Trump made this into a “women’s” issue, saying that poor women would not be able to protect themselves from gangs. He labeled Clinton, “heartless Hillary.” So the media focused on heartless Hillary as a label rather than the gun issue.

Trump has given only one policy speech in his campaign. Basically, he stands up and says whatever is on his mind—a very dangerous strategy for any politician. And his website is full of short issue statements without well-developed solutions. So, anyone trying to determine what Trump really means in the policy realm will be thwarted. It’s difficult to be against (or for) his policies if you’re not sure what they are.

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